Satellite Incorporates Purpose-Built Computer
Israel’s Ben Gurion University Satellite (BGUSAT) will be launched on the PSLV-C37 launcher from India on 15 February. A joint venture of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the Israel Space Agency, BGUSAT is the nation’s first research nanosatellite, measuring just 10x10x30cm and weighing in at under five kilograms.
A purpose-built computer developed by IAI engineers specifically for nanosatellites has been included in BGUSAT, which will be launched along with 103 other nanosatellites and cubesats. IAI’s Space Division also developed a unique camera for the application, capable of short-wave infra-red imaging of a wide range of meteorological conditions.
Professor Dan Blumberg, Vice President for Research and Development at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, where a dedicated earth station will receive and analyse data from BGUSAT, commented “Nanosatellites allow activity in the fields of space engineering and space research at a cost which is very low in proportion to what was considered acceptable in the past. This allows academics to be much (more) active in the field and encourages innovation and entrepreneurship on the part of both researchers and students.”